Évolution des maillots NBA dans l’histoire

Today we take it for granted that a basketball uniform will have a jersey and shorts in matching colors. But contrasting shorts used to be a fairly common sight throughout pro, college and high school basketball.

Today we take it for granted that a basketball uniform will have a jersey and shorts in matching colors. But contrasting shorts used to be a fairly common sight throughout pro, college and high school basketball.

Jerry West porte sa ceinture au calme.

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See the little belt sewn into the waistband? That uniform element used to be standard-issue, but it faded from favor in the 1960s. Also note the block shadowed numbers, which were a Lakers visual signature for decades.

Wilt Chamberlain, 1967, les converses propres.

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The bold color-blocking on Wilt Chamberlain’s jersey and the unusual stripe on his shorts combined to create a unique red, white and blue effect — ideal for the 76ers.

Tom Van Arsdale, 1970, porte le “C” du Capitaine.

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The vertically lettered team name, once used by a few teams, was recently revived by the Oklahoma City Thunder for their alternate uniform. Also note the captain’s C — an NBA rarity.

Le maillot-short de Elvin Hayes, 1970, sans nom de ville ni d’équipe.

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Here we have one of the most unusual uniforms in NBA history! The super-prominent striping makes it easy to miss the most radical aspect of the design, which is that neither the team name nor the city name appears on the jersey for the Washington Bullets.

Pete Maravich 1972, avec ses chaussettes de grand-mère.

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The Atlanta Hawks and Pacers (not photographed) employed a wraparound over-the-shoulder stripe that continued from the front of the jersey to the back. Meanwhile, look at the Celtics: Aside from the length of the shorts, their uniforms still look pretty much the same today.

Bingo Smith, 1976, les rayures à la mode.

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The gaudy style often known as barber pole striping or candy striping was fairly common in the 1950s and ’60s. The Cavs were among the last teams to use it.

Bill Walton, 1976, est allé trop loin dans le “short court jeu”.

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Some shorts really live up to their name! But the most interesting thing here is Bill Walton’s headband, which at the time was considered a fairly eccentric accessory. Today, of course, headbands are standard for countless NBA players.

Magic Johnson, 1985, les genouillères toujours opérationnelles.

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Magic Johnson was one of several players from his era who routinely wore knee pads. Today they’ve fallen out of flavor, even though the game is more physical than ever.

Aside from all his other influences on the sport, Michael Jordan helped spark a uniform revolution by tugging down on his shorts, which he eventually wore longer and longer. Meanwhile, NBA socks were getting shorter and shorter. The era of short shorts and high socks was over

L’uniforme des Nets est passé à l’eau de javel.

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The Nets’ denim-patterned road uni has gone down as one of the more unfortunate chapters in NBA design history. While some bad uniforms eventually achieve a sort of retro-kitsch appeal, that’s unlikely to happen in this case.

When you’re a new franchise playing in the Great White North, you have to try to get attention any way you can. That’s the only possible explanation for the Raptors’ inaugural design. Same goes for the Vancouver Grizzlies, whose debut uni was even more of an eyesore than Toronto’s

Los Suns, le clin d’oeil à la population hispanophone.

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The NBA’s Noche Latina program, designed as an outreach to the Hispanic community, has resulted in some odd-seeming combinations of Spanish and English, including Los Suns, Los Bulls and El Heat. League officials say their market research shows that these are the names Hispanic fans use when referring to these teams.

Golden State Warriors, 2013, les manches font leur come-back.

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Last season the Warriors became the first team in modern NBA history to wear sleeves. They’ll have plenty of company this year; more than a dozen teams are expected to experiment with the sleeved look for at least a few games. Let’s hope they don’t pair their solid-colored jerseys with pinstriped pants, the way Golden State did.